Cigarette lighter



J1me 1950 E. B. DE MESQUITA x 2,5

CIGARETTE LIGHTER Filed Feb. 10, 1949 IN VEN TOR.

Edwin deMesguia Patented June 27, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICECIGARETTE LIGHTER Edwin B. de Mesquita, Jamaica, N. Y., assignor toAmerican Safety Razor Corporation, Brooklyn, N. Y., a corporation ofVirginia Application February 10, 1949, Serial No. '7 5,569

3 Claims. 1

This invention relates to cigarette lighters, and more particularly, ofthe type having an operating lever which is pressed against a returnspring, to turn the normally closed snufier cap to open position and atthe same time turning the flint wheel to ignite the exposed wick. Whenfinger pressure is released from the operating lever, the snulfer cap isreturned (by the said return spring) to closed position, extinguishingthe flame.

Cigarette lighters of the type described are commonly designed forone-hand operation. One of the objections to this type of lighter isthat finger pressure must be exerted on the operating lever, andmaintained exerted, as long as it is desired that the flame remainunextinguished. Cigarette lighters of this type are awkward to handle ininstances where it is desired to pass the lighter with its flameunextinguished and accessible, to another person. The person who haslighted the flame must continue to exert finger pressure on theoperating lever while he attempts to pass the lighter to another person,who must also place his fingers in position tocontinue the pressure onthe operating lever, otherwise'the flame will be extinguished.

It has been heretofore sought to overcome this objection tospring-return lighters of the type described, by providing separatelatching means for holding the operating lever in pressed-down position,the snuffer-cap thus remaining in turned position away from the wick.Such latching means were required to be operatedby a separatemanipulation-after the operating lever had been pressed down andoperated again when it was desired to extinguish the flame.

The prime object of this invention is to provide means for conditioninga spring-return lighter so that its operating lever will remaindepressed and the snufier-cap away from the ignited wick for the timedesired: The conditioning means of this invention are not difiicuit tooperate, but, on the contrary, may be easily manipulated both inconditioning the lighter to open or flame-condition and in conditioningit to normal operation, extinguishing the flame upon release of fingerpressure; the improved conditioning means may, in fact, be easilymanipulated by a single hand (the hand customarily used in manipulatingthis type of cigarette lighter); the improved conditioning means may besimultaneously operated with the act of exerting downward pressure onthe operating lever so that simultaneously with the ignition of thewick, the lever is conditioned to maintain the snufier-cap in openposition.

Further objects of the invention are to provide a conditioning means'for spring-return lighters which will not in the least encumber thelighter; conditioning means which require no separate parts in additionto those already present; conditioning means which comprise but a singlemanipulator means which, moreover, is associated with, and carried by,the operating lever of the lighter.

For the attainment of the foregoing and such other objects as may appearor be pointed out herein Ihave shown a preferred embodiment of myinvention in the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a spring-return lighter having theimproved conditioning means of this invention;

Fig. '2 is a side elevational view of said lighter;

and

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary detail in section and on an enlarged scale,longitudinal through the operating lever.

The lighter comprises a casing I0, having a top closure wall Hi, andabove which is a narrowwail I I which is U-shaped in shape and. extendsperipherally about the casin top except for an unwalled portion at thefront of the lighter (at the left, Figs. 1 and 2) Top wall II serves topivotally support the operating lever H, at pin I8 which is located nearthe rear of the lighter (at the right, Figs. 1 and 2); The distal (frontor left) end of operating-lever I1 is articulated to a snuffer capleverItwhich is likewise pivoted to-top wall II, at a pin I6 at the front(left) end of the topwall I I. I

Downward finger pressure on operating lever I1 causes a depressionthereof to turnsnufier lever I3 in aclo'ckwise direction from the closedposition'of Fig. 1 to the cpen'position of Fig. 2. At-the s'ame time,operating lever I! also turns aflint wheel (not shown) toignit'e thewick I5; Fig. 2, exposed by said turning of snufier lever I3. A springI9 urges operating lever IT in an upwarddirection- (clockwise in Fig.2), so that as soon-as'finger' pressure is withdrawn'from the operatinglever it returns to its normal raised position, to turn snufier lever I3counterclockwise to closed position, thus extinguishing the lighted WickI5.

If it is desired to pass the lighter from one person, who has appliedfinger pressure to operating lever I! to ignite wick I5, in its lightedcondition, to another person, said finger pressure must be constantlyexerted on the lever I1, otherwise the flame will be immediatelyextinguished.

Referring to the latter figure, it will be seen that slide 3| has twodownwardly directed pins 32, 32, which clear in slots 34, 34 inoperating lever T; the lower ends of pins 32 32 are headed over at 33,33 to lock slide 3| to the leveryet permitting an extent of left andright or longi-' tudinal movement relative to the lever, as limited bythe slots 34, 34. The pivoted end of snufier lever |3 has an arcuateportion M, which is adjacent to the distal end of operating lever H. Inthis arcuate portion l4 of the snufier lever is cut a small notch 30,somewhat wider than the thickness of slide 3|, Fig, 3, and substantiallyas long as the width of the slide (Fig.1), That is, the dimensions ofnotch 30 are such that the leading end (left end in the figures) ofslide 3| may enter therein.

, It will thus be seen that the conditioning means of this invention,that is, the slide 3|, is so disposed that it may be readily moved bythe same finger (or thumb) that depresses operating lever H. The topsurface of conditioning slide 3| is knurled or otherwise roughened-asshown in Fig. 1to enable the thumb or finger to move or slide it readilywithout exerting any appreciable pressure as would be the case were asmooth surface presented along which the thumb or finger would slip.Having depressed operating lever I! to ignite the wick, which downwardmovement of I! turns snuffer lever |3 to present its notch opposite theslide 3| (as shown in Fig. 3). If it is desired that the wick remainlit,the slide 3| is simply slid forward (to the left) to enter notch 30 andhold the snuffer lever I3 in open position. To extinguish the wick, theslide is moved (to the right) to withdraw its tip from notch 30. i I

Having described my invention whatI claim as new and desire to secure byLetters Patent, is:

1. A cigarette lighter comprising, a fuel tank casing, igniting means, asnuffer cap pivoted on an axis disposed on the upper surface of. saidcasing, a wick tube opening upwardly from the fuel tank with its mouthat one side of said axis, an operating member positioned on the oppositeside of said axis for receiving downwardly directed finger pressure onits upper surface to cause th snuffer cap to turn to open position andexpose the mouth of the wick tube while actuating said igniting means, aspring opposing the finger pressure on said operating member and forreturning the snuffer cap to close the wick tube mouth and extinguish aflame, and, conditioning means including a slide and a receiving notchtherefor, said slide beingmounted 4 on the upper surface of theoperating member for limited forward movement toward said snuffer cap,and said notch being located in the snuffer cap so as to register withthe forward end of said slide when the snuffer cap has been moved to itsopen position by downward movement of a finger exerting downwardlydirected pressure on said slide and operating member, whereby a changein direction of movement of the finger, to exert pressure forwardly onsaid slide, will cause the slide to move into engagement with the notchto hold the snufier cap in open position against the urgency of saidspring. 2. A lighter as described in claim 1, wherein ."said operatingmember is an elongated lever I pivoted about an axis positioned on theopposite side of said snuffer cap axis from the wick tube mouth, and theslide is roughened on its upper surface for receipt of finger pressure,said slide moving forward longitudinally of the operating lever toengage the notch and lock the snufier in open position, and rearwardlytoward the axis of the lever to disengage the notch and release thesnuffer cap.

, 3. A cigarette lighter comprising; a fuel tank, igniting means,asnuffer cap pivotally mounted about an axis disposed on an exteriorsurface of the fuel tank, a wicktube opening through,

said surface at one side of said axis, an operating member mounted onthe opposite side of said axis for receipt of finger pressure towardsaid fuel tank to cause the snufier cap to turn to open positionexposing the wick tube opening and to actuate said igniting means, aspring engaging the operating member to oppose said finger pressure andreturn the snuffer cap to extinguish a wick fiame, and conditioningmeans including a slide and a notch for the receipt thereof, said slidebeing mounted on the finger pressure receiving surface of said operatingmember for limited movement toward and away from said snuffer cap, saidnotch being disposed on said snuifer cap so as to register with one endof said slide when the snuffer cap has been moved to its open positionby pressure of a finger exerted on the slide and operating member in thedirection of said fuel tank, whereby pressure of a finger exerted onsaid slide in the direction of the snufier cap will cause the slide toengage the notch to hold the snufier cap in open position against theurgency of said spring.

EDWIN B. DE MESQUITA.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the,

file of this patent:

UNITEDSTATES PATENTS Great Britain Aug. 29, 1929

